http://www.cocomment.com/comments/mcleod Copyright 2007 coComment.com 2009-11-26T04:45:34.296+01:00 http://www.cocomment.com/images/logo4rss.gif http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=1481906&comment_id=28474861 Scott McLeod Sounds like a fun get-together! Not only am I jealous that you got to spend time with Jenny, I'm envious of her chance to hear Garr Reynolds. I sure would like to hear him speak sometime! Compared to Boing Boing, TechCrunch, and others, we're all NYFBs... =) 2008-07-08T15:22:59.251+02:00 2008-07-08T15:22:59.251+02:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=1484094&comment_id=28469061 Scott McLeod Hi Alice, I loved that we finally got to meet each other at NECC this year. I wish that we'd had more time to talk in San Antonio but I know that we'll continue our Skype conversations! I deliberately didn't name any names in my post. I am uncertain that I even could have done so - the post was intended to sum up a variety of comments / feelings that were sort of floating around at NECC. I also tried to frame it in such a way that we all would reflect not just on our own behavior and thoughts but on our collective responsibilities to each other. I don't know if that was a 'mistake' or not, but it seems to have generated some interesting thinking and conversation. Keep up the good work, my blogging friend! 2008-07-08T12:13:26.152+02:00 2008-07-08T12:13:26.152+02:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=1481145&comment_id=28415305 Scott McLeod Glad you had a great time at NECC and Edubloggercon this year. I did too! We'll figure all this out by next year, I hope. Growing pains! 2008-07-06T22:26:05.590+02:00 2008-07-06T22:26:05.590+02:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=1386395&comment_id=26503784 Scott McLeod The feds spend $56 billion per year on K-12 education, and some other huge amount on higher education. They could have a special fund for not only MIT but a bunch of other institutions and it still would be a small drop in the bucket. States also could fund initiatives like this - can you imagine how great it could be if each state subsidized openly available courses from its flagship institution(s)? 2008-05-10T14:14:28.141+02:00 2008-05-10T14:14:28.141+02:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=1380266&comment_id=26379827 Scott McLeod So maybe one solution for new users is to set up Twitter as a complement to already existing face-to-face (or separated-by-distance) communities of practice. Pitch it as a means of just-in-time help within an existing or newly-created group. For example, I'm doing a workshop with Alabama principals in a couple of weeks. By the time we're done, they could create their own Twitter network and start using it for quick questions about dilemmas they are facing in their buildings. Then, gradually, they can find outside folks who also are of value to follow... 2008-05-06T04:33:51.405+02:00 2008-05-06T04:33:51.405+02:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=1376460&comment_id=26324354 Scott McLeod Success goes to the persistent, not just the passionate. Best of all: the persistently passionate (hard to do, as you note!). 2008-05-02T20:25:06.469+02:00 2008-05-02T20:25:06.469+02:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=1323046&comment_id=25375984 Scott McLeod Doug, I wonder if you're expecting too much of people. For example, it was only after about 6-8 months of immersing myself in the blogosphere that I truly started to understand this complex new learning environment and what some of the pedagogical possibilities were. Was I driven by a deep desire to enact change? Yes, I always am. Was I viewing blogs as a way to facilitate that? No way, not then. Does that mean I shouldn't have immersed myself? No, because it was only by diving in and learning that I came out the other side more knowledgeable and more ready to use these tools as you describe. I'm guessing that many others are traveling similar journeys. Accordingly, I'm more than willing to give people the benefit of the doubt as they explore the possibilities with all of this new stuff. How else are they going to make sense of it all? 2008-04-14T15:03:41.649+02:00 2008-04-14T15:03:41.649+02:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=1144855&comment_id=22904874 Scott McLeod Jeff, come to Iowa State U. and get your doctorate! 2008-01-01T14:14:53.315+01:00 2008-01-01T14:14:53.315+01:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=997434&comment_id=18777434 Scott McLeod Maybe the question you want to ask yourself is, "At what level do I want to make change?" Principals can theoretically affect more kids than teachers, although their distance from those kids is greater. Professors can theoretically affect more kids than principals (via the teachers / administrators with whom they teach / interact), but their distance from students is even greater. Through my work with schools (and online!), I know that I am positively impacting many more students than I ever did as a teacher, but there's also not a day goes by that I don't miss my 8th-graders (and it's been 13 years now). Drop me a line if you ever want to chat mano-a-mano about this (particularly since you're going to be hell on whatever grad program you choose (wink) - it better be a good one!)... "[T]here are virtually no documented instances of troubled schools being turned around without intervention by a powerful leader. Many other factors may contribute to such turnarounds, but leadership is the catalyst." - http://tinyurl.com/3bnou3 2007-09-12T05:05:16.125+02:00 2007-09-12T05:05:16.125+02:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=877104&comment_id=17001754 drscottmcleod Oh, not a problem. Just wanted to let you know that this was me just goofing around with a FlipVideo camcorder. Thanks! 2007-07-11T14:37:28.669+02:00 2007-07-11T14:37:28.669+02:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=816480&comment_id=15906839 Scott McLeod Chris, thanks for the comments (and, Tim, thanks for the post!). I did offer several 'solutions,' I believe, as part of my presentation. The first was to get people talking. Action cannot occur without awareness. The level of understanding about this stuff by most K-12 and postsecondary educators is astonishingly low. Clearly you are the exception to the rule. Second, instead of "a chicken in every pot," I believe we will need "ubiquitous Internet access and a computing device in every hand." We know the future will be more technological and more globally-connected than it already is now. We have to give students the tools, and them and their educators the training, to help them become productive digital, global citizens and workers. 24-7 Internet access is coming soon - just ask the governor of Vermont! Third, we have to utilize what we know. In K-12 schools, I see a lot of ineffective change occurring despite all we know about how to make effective change occur. We also have to re-examine a number of deeply-held assumptions and paradigms about education and schooling. A couple of other thoughts: 1) The alarmism of today is no different in tone than that of the 1980s(and the 1950s), but the focus is different. Technology is ramping up the pace of change, so preparing students for the future is very different than before. The general consensus is that the focus needs to less on standardization and factual memorization and more on adaptiveness, creativity, innovation, collaboration: a very different set of skills than we've asked our students to acquire in the past. See here for some of the recent reports: http://tinyurl.com/ywr644 2) I don't think (and didn't say) that developing nations are going to leapfrog advantaged nations. Instead, they're going to leapfrog at least some of their own infrastructure barriers that have kept them from making progress. Think, for example, cell phones instead of running telephone cables. That's what I believe we're going to see with the OLPC project. Also, we don't really know what it will mean when (as TIME magazine said) "millions of minds that would otherwise have drowned in obscurity get backhauled into the global intellectual economy." 3) I don't think most people envisioned the Internet; global ideagoras; social networking; blog, wikis and podcasts; online video sharing; collaborative bookmarking; and many of the other tools and social phenomena that we have today. Maybe much of the tech world did, and a few smart folks like David Brin and Ray Kurzweil, but not most folks in most sectors of society. I agree with you that the education sector would benefit greatly from better exposure to the technology sector. Want to help me, in my capacity as director of the only university center in the country focused on the tech needs of school leaders, make that happen? 2007-06-19T20:36:23.925+02:00 2007-06-19T20:36:23.925+02:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=800035&comment_id=15589937 Scott McLeod Oops, I forgot my other point. Sometimes we bloggers (myself included) paint teachers with too broad a brush. For example, we say "teachers" when what we really mean is "laggards" (as we perceive them): http://tinyurl.com/2533fm 2007-06-14T14:58:43.946+02:00 2007-06-14T14:58:43.946+02:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=800035&comment_id=15589312 Scott McLeod Dan, thanks for calling me a freak! It's true, so true... I'll take it as a compliment! Glad you're enjoying my blogging - I greatly enjoy yours too. I see you've caused yourself some controversy again. =) Part of what makes you such an interesting read. You're provocative, which of course sometimes provokes people. Your sentiments and underlying intents and willingness to upset the apple cart are fabulous - sometimes your language gets too strident and gets in the way of your message. There have been a few occasions where I thought you were heading down the path toward a Robert Downey, Jr.-esque implosion but you've always managed to pull yourself back out... Keep up the great work. Stand up for those teachers who rationally reject much of the technology snake oil that comes unaccompanied with the proper vision and support structures. If leaders did a better job, we'd have fewer concerns. That said, I rarely blame the leaders either because very few have any kind of tech-related training or experience. They're just winging it. Christian, you're doing great work too. Hope you two resolve this minor dust-up. 2007-06-14T14:38:24.480+02:00 2007-06-14T14:38:24.480+02:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=712282&comment_id=13994917 Scott McLeod We'll set up the blog if your superintendent is game! mcleod@umn.edu 2007-05-15T04:26:34.066+02:00 2007-05-15T04:26:34.066+02:00 http://www.cocomment.com/sidebar?object=people&context=explore&mode=detail&id=mcleod&conv=671654&comment_id=13186811 Scott McLeod Wow. What a great post. Thanks for all the links - you reminded me that I need to update our principal blog list! 2007-05-02T13:13:52.856+02:00 2007-05-02T13:13:52.856+02:00